n. The act of collating, or bringing together and comparing; a comparison of one thing with another of a like kind; especially, the comparison of manuscripts or editions of books or of records or statistics.n. A compilation; specifically, a collection of the lives of the fathers of the church.n. The act of reading and conversing on the lives of the saints, or the Scriptures: a practice instituted in monasteries by St. Benedict.n. A conference.n. A contribution; something to which each of several participators contributes.n. In the medieval universities, a sort of theological lecture laying down certain propositions without necessarily proving them.n. Reasoning; drawing of a conclusion.n. A repast; a meal: a term originally applied to the refection partaken of by monks in monasteries after the reading of the lives of the saints.n. The act of conferring or bestowing; a gift.n. In canon law, the presentation of a clergyman to a benefice by a bishop, who is the ordinary of the benefice, and who at the same time has the benefice in his own gift or patronage, or by neglect of the patron has acquired the patron's rights.n. In civil and Scots law, the real or supposed return of a former advancement to the mass of a decedent's property, made by one heir, that the property may be equitably divided among all the heirs; hotch-pot.To partake of a light repast.n. In bibliog., detailed comparison of a book with a perfect copy, usually by specifying, by signature-marks or other indications, the number of leaves (blank as well as printed) and detachable plates or maps, present or absent, in the copy examined, as compared with a perfect copy.n. In bookbinding, the examination of the folded sections (signatures) of a book for the purpose of discovering omissions or misplacements of sections.